Coffee cream package



Dec. 23, 1952 J SNYDER ET AL 2,622,986

COFFEE CREAM PACKAGE Filed Aug. 20, 1948 J INVENTORS Eb V a J'HME; E. .SNYase l K J Bow/v15 J'emv fivflA/T Patented Dec. 23, 1952 COFFEE CREAM PACKAGE James E. Snyder and Bonnie Jean Avant, Akron, Ohio, assignors to Wingfoot Corporation, Akron, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application August 20, 1948, Serial No. 45,234

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a package and, more particularly, a small package to be used for an individual portion of coffee cream or the like for use in restaurants, etc.

The serving of individual portions of cream for coffee, etc., in a restaurant, poses a problem which as yet has not been satisfactorily solved. The cleansing of the many small containers required for individual servings is expensive and otherwise objectionable. A disposable package is desired.

The package of this invention is made of cheap and, therefore, disposable materials. It includes a pouch of transparent film material, and on each side of the pouch near the top is a supporting flange which prevents the package; after being opened, from falling flat to a position in which the contents will run out. The supporting flanges are preferably a part of a stiffening top member. To facilitate opening, this top is preferably slit or notched along the top edge and perforated from the bottom of the slit or notch to one edge of the package. If the film material of which the pouch is made resists tearing, the top edge is advantageously provided with a tear-starting cut to coincide with the slit or notch in the stiffening element.

The invention will be further described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a view in perspective of the finished article;

Fig. 2 is an end view with the middle portion broken away;

Fig. 3 shows the filled body portion before the attachment of the stiffening member;

Fig. 4 is a view the same as Fig. 3 but with the stiffening member added;

Figs. 5 and 6 show a body portion of somewhat different construction from that shown in Fig. 3.

The body portion of the package is a, pouch of any suitable design, such as that shown in Fig. 3. This pouch is made of any suitable film. For cofiee cream it must be non-toxic and oil resistant. Rubber-hydrochloride film suitably plasticized is satisfactory for the packaging of cream and is, therefore, selected herein for the purpose of illustration. For other purposes, cellulosic films, vinyl films, films of polyethylene, etc., may be satisfactory.

Fig. 3 illustrates a pouch made of two pieces of rubber-hydrochloride film sealed at both edges 5 and 6 and across the bottom. After filling, it is closed by scaling in the area 8 spaced a short distance from the top. In the unsealed area across the top is the slit 9 which extends inward from the top edge of each film a short distance, to facilitate tearing.

After filling, the stiffening member is attached to the top by adhesive ll (Figure 2). This stifiening member which is usually made of cheap cellulosic material, provides supporting flanges l3 and It on the two sides of the package. The stiffening member is advantageously formed by folding across the top of the package to form the fold l5, and folding outwardly along the lines 16 to form the two supporting flanges I3 and I4. Instead of a single strip of stiffening member folded across the top of the package, two strips separated at the top may be used. The stiffening member is notched at 20 to give access to the slits 9 in the film for tearing, and a line of perforations in the stiffening member (but not the pouch) 2i extend from the base of the notch to the edge of the package to guide the tearing of the stiffening member, and likewise the film of the pouch which is fastened to it. The notch is deeper than the heat-seal 8 and when one opens the package the sides of the notch guide the ex tension of the tear 9 through the heat-seal.

The stiffening member may be made of chip board which is preferably waxed on the upper side to prevent absorption of cream spilled onto it. Whether or not it is waxed on the under surface will depend upon the type of adhesive employed. The upper side may also be printed. The chip board may be supplied from a roll. For the individual cream packages three inches square, chip board three inches wide will be satisfactory. It is scored down the middle on the under side and along the top side along the lines I6 one-half inch from each edge. An adhesive strip two inches wide is applied down the middle of the under side and to the sides of the package. The adhesive must come below the heat-seal line of the pouch and below the perforations and preferably is applied to both sides of the line of perforations in the stiffening member, the latter bonding causing the pouch to tear with the stiffening member when it is torn along the line of perforations 2!, and preventing the pouch from tearing below the perforations.

To open the package the diner continues the tear 9 down through the heat-seal 8 to the bottom of the notch 20, and then tears along the perforations 2| to the edge of the package. This removes a corner of the film and a corner of the stifiener, providing an opening through which the cream can be poured. The two walls of the film are not sealed together below the heat-sealed area 8 and the stiffening element is not so stiff as to prevent separation of its two ends to permit pouring from the package.

After the desired amount of cream or the like has been removed from the package the diner merely places the partially emptied package on the table or counter. The tendency is for the partially emptied package to flop to one side or the other. As it does so, one of the supporting flanges holds the opening above the level of the liquid remaining in the package and thus prevents leakage of the cream or other liquid from the package onto the table, etc. To accomplish this, each supporting flange must be about as wide as the filled bag is thick, because it cannot be foreseen how much cream will be removed from the package before it is placed on the table.

Fig. shows an alternative pouch structure in which the film is folded across the bottom and sealed along the sides 3| and 32. The stiifening member is applied in the manner previously described.

Fig. 6 shows another alternative pouch struc ture in which the film is folded at the side and sealed across the opposite side 36 and across the bottom at 31. This pouch is used in the same manner as that shown in Fig. 3.

Different pouch constructions may be used. If the pouch is made of a film that is easily torn the slits 9 may be omitted and the seal may be made at the top of the pouch instead of being spaced from it. The stiffening member may then be slit instead of notched. The pouch may even be folded at the top and filled and sealed through the bottom. For coffee cream the pouches are about three inches square.

The package may be cheaply and quickly made and relatively inexpensive materials will be utilized. The resulting bag is so cheap as to be disposed of after use, and the tearing away of the stiffening element on one corner of the bag ensures the diner that the package will not be reused.

What we claim is:

1. A coffee-cream package having an individual serving of coffee cream therein, the pack age being formed of a container composed of a bag of oil-resistant heat-sealable plastic film and a fibrous cellulosic stiffening element, the two walls of the bag being united near one end by a heat seal and having a short cut leading to the heat seal from the film edges adjacent thereto, the stiffening element being bent over said film edges and adhesively secured to the two surfaces of the bag to a line below the heat seal and there being bent outwardly and extending beyond the respective walls of the bag when filled, there being a notch in the bent-over edge of the stiffening element which extends below the heat seal and exposes the film cuts, a line of perforations in the portion of the stiffening element which is adhered to the bag below the heat seal and extending from one edge of the stiffening element to the notch; the cuts, notch and perforations being located symmetrically on the two walls of the container; the outwardly bent portions of the stiffening element being adapted to support said end of the container above the liquid level therein after said end has been opened and the package has been partially emptied and placed on a level surface.

2. A coffee-cream package having an individual serving of coffee cream therein, the package being formed of a container composed of a four-sided pouch ofoil-resistant heat-sealable plastic film and a fibrous cellulosic stiffening element, the stiffening element being bent over one edgeof the pouch and adhesively secured to the two surfaces thereof adjacent said edge and having its ends bent outwardly from the pouch and extending beyond the walls of the pouch when filled, whereby the outwardly bent portions are adapted to support said edge of the container above the liquid level therein after the package has been partially emptied and placed on a level surface.

JAMES E. SNYDER. BONNIE JEAN AVANT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,467,009 Peterson Sept. 4, 1923 1,766,405 Shaw 1- June 24, 1930 2,093,974 Farmer Sept. 21, 1937 2,093,978 Farmer Sept. 21, 1937 2,103,389 Salfisberg Dec. 28, 1937 2,192,722 Vogt Mar. 5, 1940 2,293,952 Stroop Aug. 25, 1942 2,329,360 Salfisberg Sept. 14, 1943 I 2,333,587 Salfisberg Nov. 2, 1943 2,349,369 Norseen May 23, 1944 2,352,503 Walton June 27, 1944 2,369,716 Coghill Feb. 20, 1945 2,374,793 Waters May 1, 1945 2,460,963 Young Feb. 8, 1949 2,493,063 Frank Jan. 3, 1950 2,542,206 Nichols Feb. 20, 1951 

1. A COFFEE-CREAM PACKAGE HAVING AN INDIVIDUAL SERVING OF COFFEE CREAM THEREIN, THE PACKAGE BEING FORMED OF A CONTAINER COMPOSED OF A BAG OF OIL-RESISTANT HEAT-SEALABLE PLASTIC FILM AND A FIBROUS CELLULOSIC STIFFENING ELEMENT, THE TWO WALLS OF THE BAG BEING UNITED NEAR ONE END BY A HEAT SEAL AND HAVING A SHORT CUT LEADING TO THE HEAT SEAL FROM THE FILM EDGES ADJACENT THERETO, THE STIFFENING ELEMENT BEING BENT OVER SAID FILM EDGES AND ADHESIVELY SECURED TO THE TWO SURFACES OF THE BAT TO A LINE BELOW THE HEAT SEAL AND THERE BEING BENT OUTWARDLY AND EXTENDING BEYOND THE RESPECTIVE WALLS OF THE BAG WHEN FILLED, THERE BEING A NOTCH IN THE BENT-OVER EDGE OF THE STIFFENING ELEMENT WHICH EXTENDS BELOW THE HEAT SEAL AND EXPOSES THE FILM CUTS, A LINE OF PERFORATIONS IN THE PORTION OF THE STIFFENING ELEMENT WHICH IS ADHERED TO THE BAG BELOW THE HEAT SEAL AND EXTENDING FROM ONE EDGE OF THE STIFFENING ELEMENT TO THE NOTCH; THE CUTS, NOTCH AND PERFORATIONS BEING LOCATED SYMMETRICALLY ON THE TWO WALLS OR THE CONTAINER: THE OUTWARDLY BENT PORTION OF THE STIFFENING ELEMENT BEING ADAPTED TO SUPPORT SAID END OF THE CONTAINER ABOVE THE LIQUID LEVEL THEREIN AFTER SAID END HAS BEEN OPENED AND THE PACKAGE HAS BEEN PARTIALLY EMPTIED AND PLACED ON A LEVEL SURFACE. 